Renewable energy - the future

So far, the global price of fuel has been stable, and it looks like it is going to hold for some time. The oil-exporting countries have tried all the tricks in the book to make the prices rise, but it all boils down to the consumers. Consumption has gone down dramatically, and this is especially true in America where spending habits have drastically changed in several months as a result of a messed-up financial infrastructure. It has since traveled globally, and now permeates Europe, Northern America, and the Asian region.

Here at home, people are mindful of their spending too. I read an unofficial poll of young people who admitted having cut down significantly on their spending, though they seem to have comfortable jobs. They are in their mid-twenties to early thirties, yet they feel the anxiety of an uncertain future.

An economist would say that consumer spending is still the answer, the engine that drives a country’s economy. That is also what our economic leaders preach, but to the layman who reads the daily news and watches CNN, would he be able to relate this to his everyday life and say yes, I should spend like times are normal and not set aside the paltry savings I realized for the month? I think maybe, just maybe, the piggy bank will be in fashion again.

There are lessons to be learned, and if we can’t learn from history, we are doomed to commit the same mistakes. America has gone through quite a few crippling economic crashes, and though the last one was too long ago for this generation to even recall, a repeat of the scenario in this magnitude is incomprehensible.

 The difference between American and Chinese finances bears watching. For years, China has been reported as awash with money, their dollar reserves staggering and mind-boggling. They built it up like a fortress over a period of time when America was wildly spending and wracking up debts. They also had the fortitude and vision to buy up mortgages at giveaway prices with their extra cash, while American bankers added pages and pages of toxic loans to their portfolio of assets, extending their reach beyond their borders with grossly unrealistic figures. The bank/finance executives overreached their targets with the false pictures presented, earned their fat bonuses and salaries, moved from one financial institution to another bearing the same brand of dubious marketing. And so the contagion continued, starting with a not-so-complex housing mess, and ending up in centuries-old banks and financial houses collapsing like a house of cards.

Maybe it is in the Asian mindset that nothing beats saving up for a rainy day, and the practice of saving never gets out of fashion. You don’t save for a year because you’re aiming for that glorious resort holiday next year. You set something aside for that, yes, but ultimately, there’s a bigger fund that you’re saving up for – security. This is probably why last year, rural banking growth was at a high 15.8 percent, compared to the 11.8 percent growth of commercial banks. 2007 was even better.

As a nation, I tend to agree that we have indeed set in place some very sound economic fundamentals, which have somehow given us some form of insulation in this present global financial crisis. We have monumental political problems, no doubt, and corruption is at an all-time high, but in the economic realm, we seem to have benefited from an economist-president and her economic team. While we lag behind our neighbors in so many ways, the contagion has thankfully not reached our shores far enough to count as a recession. 

Still, we have to look at ways and means to steadily keep our heads above water. Many countries are now looking seriously at renewable energy as a solution, a viable measure for self-sustaining survival. There was much noise early last year about bio-fuel and for a while, we thought there would be a rush towards this emerging industry. It did not become a pan de sal craze, but the Roxas group that has been in sugar for such a long time is finally going into it in a huge way.

In their Roxol plant, they capture the waste (methane), and use it as fuel to power their boilers. In so doing, they hit two birds: 1- they replace the traditional fuel which they regularly use with renewable fuel which is methane and 2- they reduce the carbon dioxide that is emitted into the atmosphere by bunker fuel.

They earn carbon credits for this, and the company expects to generate #3.2 million over the next four years from these carbon credits. To their credit, the company has pledged $50,000/year for the next four years to fund sustainable community development projects for the areas surrounding their Roxol plant.

Another company that is going into the renewable energy industry is Trans-Asia Oil. Sometime in the late 90’s, they ventured into power, starting off in Bulacan where they first set up their diesel plant. This is now the Holcim Cement Plant, and now Trans-Asia which is into upstream oil and gas exploration, is looking to harness energy from wind.

They have already done a pre-feasibility study in Guimaras where they intend to build a 54 mega watt wind farm. For this, the company would need about P150 million to fund the project, at P2-3 million per mega watt. They looked at other sites, spent about a year tracking the wind in Pangasinan even, and finally settled in Guimaras.

For this year, they intend to develop more renewable energy areas. They have ten priority sites in mind, and have already applied for 440 mega watts with the Department of Energy in thirty seven sites in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

In the long run, this will provide the people of Guimaras and the surrounding areas of Panay Island and Negros with a cheaper source of power. We hope more corporations will venture into this. While the initial costs of the project may be a bit high, the mills run on wind, which is free, and while the returns may not be realized immediately, the project is viable because operating costs are kept to a minimum. Besides this, the project promotes clean energy as far as emissions are concerned. It does its share in the current global concern for climate change and helps us conserve the environment while making nature work for us.

The Ubix staying power

Congratulations to Ubix Corporation on their 35th anniversary. Ubix was started by Atty. Bert Bravo as a simple photocopying venture. The company has gone a long way since then, and they have grown in leaps and bounds. They are now focusing on the document-scanning business and have several schools and offices as clients. Bert’s son, Ricky, now sits as president.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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